->''"I am the culmination of one man's dream. This is not ego or vanity, but when Doctor Soong created me, he added to the substance of the universe. If, by your experiments, I am destroyed, something unique--something wonderful--will be lost. I cannot permit that. I must protect his dream."''-->-- '''Data''', to '''Bruce Maddox''' in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' "The Measure of a Man"

Humans value the useful, the aesthetically pleasing, and the rare-- so it is not surprising that we have a deep fascination with characters, races, or objects that are unique. Be it an artifact from a bygone age, a creature that is the LastOfHisKind, or the last knight of an ancient and honorable order. Basically, the more relevant to the story a unique person or object is, the more valuable and worth preserving they are. Friends will fight to protect him, enemies to destroy him, and some even to [[CollectorOfTheStrange possess him.]] Underscoring this is the reverse, that anyone/thing who isn't unique is vastly more expendable.

Maybe this is why both characters, readers, and the author place so much sympathy and interest in these characters. FacelessMooks may [[WhatMeasureIsAMook die by the dozens]], but their boss who is The Last Atlantean Wizard will ''at least'' get an offer of surrender from the hero. [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman No one cares about destroying robots or AI's]]... unless they happen to be the only robot who can feel emotion. Or say there's a race of goo-people who are all [[CloningBlues clones]] and part of a HiveMind? [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap Finding ways to toast them would become a TV-show.]]

Relatedly, these unique characters will not just be rare, but powerful. Usually "their kind" is already powerful (which may be [[GenocideBackfire why there aren't any more of them left)]], but being their last representative gives the character a power boost much like the InverseNinjaLaw, sort of an inverse of being a SuperPrototype. Although a super prototype is also generally unique in some way compared to the production models, which die easily, so it could go either way.

It's worth noting that these characters are by no means less likely to die. After all, their demise will evoke such a poignant EndOfAnAge nostalgia few authors can resist. Similarly, it's treated as no less a tragedy if they are turned into a BrokenAngel, victim of HumanityEnsues or somehow BroughtDownToNormal.

In reality, the opposite is usually true. Many things are unique but not at all valuable, like snowflakes. Conversely, the discovery of a rare and valuable thing is usually followed by replication, optimization, and mass production.

In RealLife, this is part of the reason people are motivated to protect EndangeredSpecies.

Related to a AMillionIsAStatistic. See also MenAreTheExpendableGender, ExpendableClone, and BackupTwin. Compare LastOfHisKind, OnlyYouCanRepopulateMyRace, EndangeredSpecies, AKindOfOne, SparingTheAces, FantasticNatureReserve, and PowerEqualsRarity. In a RoleplayingGame situation, leads to SpecialSnowflakeSyndrome.----!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Book]]* ComicBook/{{Superman}} started out this way and its common for superheroes to be unique in this fashion because if everybody was like them, they wouldn't be all that super. After decades of encountering other Kryptonians, he was {{Retcon}}ned back into being the last of his kind after ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths for precisely this reason. Now, it's back to being not so unique with 100,000 Kryptonians on a new planet on the opposite side of Earth's orbit, another race (the Daxamites) who have the exact same powers, and probably dozens of other FlyingBrick types who vary only a little from him.** Don't worry, those extra Kryptonians are [[StatusQuoIsGod in the process of being killed off]].** And compared to the Daxamites, Superman is unique in shooting him not being [[ShootingSuperman a perfectly reasonable course of action]].* Rewind provides an example of this for ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. In the pre-war era, Transformers were ranked and given rights based on the rarity of their alternate mode. Transformers that turned into data storage equipment were the most common and were known as the [[SlaveRace Disposable Class]]. In the present-day, millions of years later there are so few members left and the ones that remain hold so much information, that they are among the few Autobots that can apply for combat exemption.[[/folder]]

[[folder: Films -- Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/TheLastUnicorn'' is so very, very precious to all involved because she is the [[LastOfHisKind last of her kind]]. However, after [[spoiler: freeing all the other unicorns]] she remains unique because she's the only one to have ever experienced (and will remember) human emotion.* Toothless of WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon is likely the LastOfHisKind, and Hiccup was [[spoiler: thought to be the first to tame and ride a dragon, until the sequel revealed that his mother beat him to that years before him.]] He's still the only one to wound, tame, and ride a Night Fury however, which is quite a accomplishment considering no one had ever even ''seen'' one before. * ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2:'' The Bewilderbeast is not the LastOfHisKind, but the species is close to extinction. As a species, they are unique because they are the only kind of dragon that breathes ice.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* Gill Man from ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon'' is not just a perfect specimen of his species dating back to prehistoric times, but also the only one left. Which makes the scientists want to study him... something that gets all the more complicated when he starts killing them and [[ClosedCircle blocking the exits.]] Despite his terrifying actions, he is represented as a lonely creature, [[MarsNeedsWomen kidnapping]] the HotScientist and dying in a rather tragic way. For a [[BMovie B monster movie, anyway.]]* Most viewers of ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy'' must have felt at least a tug at their heart strings when Hellboy killed the plant elemental, the last of its kind.* ''Film/StarTrek'' has [[spoiler: Vulcan be destroyed, rendering Spock, along with the few thousands of surviving Vulcans, an EndangeredSpecies. Although, interestingly, Spock himself is ''not'' unique.]]** Spock is, however a half human, and [[spoiler: Nimoy's Spock is the only member from the original continuity in this newly split-off alternate continuity universe. Both Spocks are pretty unique in addition to being one of a few remaining Vulcans.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', the heroes decide to preserve the life of [[spoiler: a basilisk.]] Sure, it is extremely dangerous, but, hey, it's beautiful, and ''rare''. [[spoiler: Besides, they have dragon blood, so maybe that animals seems to them like apes to humans.]]* Averted in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'': [[spoiler:Voldemort has made his Horcruxes out of]] three of the relics of the Four Founders of Hogwarts, priceless objects over a thousand years old, imbued with powerful magic that is only ''hinted'' at. However, they are steadily eliminated one after another -- well, [[GottaCatchEmAll gotta catch 'em all to save the world]] -- but one thinks that ''someone'' would have reflected, [[WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife What A Senseless Waste of priceless treasures.]] It helps that they are [[spoiler:keeping alive Wizard-Hitler.]]* The ''Literature/DarkNestTrilogy'' has the Killiks, several castes of insectoids with a HiveMind. Naturally, they are ''extremely'' disposable, particularly compared to the Joiners, people of other species who were more or less absorbed into that hive mind and retain some vestige of individuality. The Killiks regard themselves that way, since it doesn't matter for them if individuals get lost as long as the hive lives on. A Jedi Joiner shares their opinion; she works with a succession of members of the [[HiveCasteSystem caste]] that relays communication best and is extremely fragile. Many of this caste get killed under her, all of them referred to by the caste name, and her reaction is always "Damn it. When does the next one get here?"* The Buggers in ''Literature/EndersGame'' don't even care about individual deaths among their own species, but killing a single HiveQueen is seen as an atrocity about on a level with what humans think of genocide. This is partially due to their BizarreAlienBiology, as the worker drones aren't sentient, meaning that only killing a Hive Queen actually kills a ''person''. The BlueAndOrangeMorality involved in this culture clash [[spoiler:is what started the war; the bugs didn't think humans would mind them killing a few thousand workers because that's essentially how their societies ''greet'' each other. It takes two lopsided wars (that humanity barely survives) before either species figures out the misunderstanding (though they still have no idea how to actually ''talk'' to each other). The Buggers are deeply aghast at the number of unique individual humans they killed in the wars, and thus fairly resigned to their fate when humanity retaliates by pushing the Buggers to the brink of extinction.]]* [[Discworld/MenAtArms The Gonne]] invokes this trope, killing off people who might be able to replicate it. "One of a kind is special."* In the ''Beautiful Creatures'' series, there's John Breed, who is half incubus and caster. That is, he is an incubus who can go out in the sunlight and can absorb and keep the powers of other casters through touch. He was specifically bred by the villains to create a new 'super breed' to wipe out the casters and become the most powerful in the world. So, everyone is trying to figure out who his parents are, what all his powers are, and what his true significance is.* The companion book to ''Creator/PennAndTeller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends'' includes a short story in which aliens land on Earth and their [[PlanetOfHats hat]] turns out to be valuing uniqueness. Unfortunately, it turns out that HumansAreSpecial is {{averted}}: everything about us genetically, biologically, and culturally is reproduced somewhere else in the galaxy, and we're slated to be [[ApocalypseHow forcibly removed]] to clear up space for a more unique species to inhabit Earth. The only thing that saves us is [[UnlikelyHero a magic trick]]. The ending is left slightly ambiguous about whether or not the aliens were actually fooled by it, but the implication is that we're the only species to have made an art form out of using sleight of hand to fool one another for entertainment purposes.* In ''[[Literature/AcornaSeries Acorna, The Unicorn Girl]]'', Acorna was coveted by Hafiz, a collector all things rare and unique. And he was prepared to kidnap her from her three adoptive "uncles" (one of whom was Hafiz's own nephew and heir, Rafiz). He loses said desire when it's discovered that Acorna wasn't a singular specimen, but a member of an alien race.* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', the sorcerer Johannes Lillegard controls a number of vestiges, essentially copies of real people that he's made using his magic. He sells their suffering to supernatural creatures in exchange for power, and doesn't see anything wrong with this because they're not ''really'' people, they just have the exact emotional reaction to being tormented that the original would have. Maggie Holt, a viewpoint character, is repulsed by this idea, as she has several people she considers very close friends who don't even fit ''that'' criteria.* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' combines this with ConservationOfNinjutsu, as the leader of a vermin horde will often have less of that type of vermin in it, and those that are are often EliteMooks or CourtMage, especially foxes (except rats). Taken even further with the SeldomSeenSpecies like pine martens and wolverines.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* Once Cylons in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' lost the ability to resurrect, killing them got a ''lot'' more meaningful. Also, the Final Five (and Three after she was unboxed, as the page quote shows) are individuals, designed most of the Cylon tech, and know the way to Earth, making them some of the most unique and valuable people in existence.* Taelons in ''Series/EarthFinalConflict'' have been unable to reproduce biologically for centuries now, ''and'' had their homeworld destroyed by the Jaridians, making the death of any Taelon a heavy blow for them as a species.* ''Series/DoctorWho'':** The Doctor is the last Time Lord (Sometimes). Oddly enough the Doctor is probably the least powerful of his race, as he uses [[TimeyWimeyBall a TARDIS that was old when he will first steal it a few hundred years ago]], and a few other assorted trinkets. Considering the Time Lords provide the page quote for AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit, he's positively roughing it. He's probably smarter than the rest of his people though, and he was already unique by being willing to do something about all the evil in the universe, rather than just watch.** The various alien species who are in genuinely desperate straits, but whose plan to save their species inevitably requires human deaths may invoke this trope. For example, in ''The Vampires Of Venice'' the monster of the week needs to destroy Renaissance Venice to save her people. The fact that the Doctor inevitably chooses to doom a sapient species to extinction rather than sacrifice a relatively small number of humans is commented on as evidence of his favouritism towards humanity.* There's usually at least one character like this in the main cast of each ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series:** Data on ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]].'' While he does find a handful of other robots like him, such as his EvilTwin Lore, they tend to get destroyed or are otherwise incapacitated so that by the end of the day, there's only one left.** For ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', There are two characters who fit this: Seven of Nine, for a while the sole Liberated Borg, who gets specifically chased down by the Borg Queen because of her uniqueness, and the Doctor, the only hologram who develops his own unique personality. It's little wonder they became the SpotlightStealingSquad.** To some extent, also explored with [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] and [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Spock]].* John Crichton of ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. As of the final episodes of season one, this is why all the bad guys are always after him.-->'''John''': Why don't you leave me alone Scorpy?-->'''Scorpius''': Because the wormhole technology locked in your brain makes you, to my knowledge, unique in the galaxy.-->'''John''': (muttering under his breath) Unique.-->'''Scorpius''': And unique, is always valuable.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks'' has one episode devoted to helping a clutch of dragon hatchlings from being killed/captured by pirates, after dragons had been made all but extinct.* On at least one occasion, [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Superman]] has been abducted by a collector of endangered species for being the LastOfHisKind.** Along with Lobo, who claims to be a [[SelfMadeOrphan self-made]] LastOfHisKind.** Brainiac has destroyed countless planets for [[InvokedTrope the sole purpose]] of raising the value of the data he collects from them.* Same deal for Danny in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' where Skulker wanted to collect him because of his rare half ghost status. Though after numerous failures to capture him, Skulker decided to just kill and pelt him instead.** Sam was kidnapped by an egotistical ghost prince who wanted the novelty of having a human for a wife. How to pick the right one for the job? [[spoiler: Hold a beauty contest at the Ghost Boy's high school.]]* Parodied in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Marge and the [[ScoutOut Pre-Teen Braves]] are surprised to meet a Mohican.--> '''Bart''': Mohican? I thought you guys were all gone.--> '''Mohican''': No, but we encourage the myth. Chicks really dig you when you're the last of something.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* Wander's goal in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' is to destroy all the colossi in order to resurrect Mono. However the more you play the game, the more you feel like destroying these ancient and unique creatures is too high a price to save one random girl. Especially those colossi who ignore you until provoked, or don't even fight back as you attack them; you end up feeling guilty every time you send another giant beast collapsing in slow motion.** Another giant, beautifully and painstakingly crafted, intelligent (or at least sentient), emotional creature... usually letting out a horrible final moan or gasp as the lights fade from its eyes... [[TearJerker excuse me a moment]]...* Explored in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' when you discuss the modron race with Grace. When a modron is destroyed, its essence returns to Mechanus, and a new modron of the same type is spawned. Since all modrons of a given type are identical, slaying one amount to nothing. However Nordom, a recruitable party member, has gone rogue and developed his own personality and individuality. If he is destroyed, his essence will also return to Mechanus, but the replacement will be a standard modron - not Nordom. The Nameless One even points it out - by going rogue, Nordom has effectively become mortal, since his death would be considered a loss. (This is, incidentally, why in the regular Planescape setting modrons make such a big deal out of hunting down rogue modrons - they are effectively stealing vital Mechanus essence for non-Mechanus purposes.)* Runescape has certain items known as Rares, which are items that were given away for free years ago, or were freely/cheaply available - and they include things like paper partyhats, christmas crackers, easter eggs, and half-full jugs of wine. They include the most expensive items in the game and are useless - except for the wearable ones which offer aesthetic value only. Wearable rares are more valuable than non-wearable rares, but you still get things like the half-full jugs of wine being worth hundreds of millions of gold pieces purely from their rarity.* You may find an intelligent (and very friendly) Troll in ''[[AgeOfWonders Age of Wonders - Shadow Magic]]'' who invokes this trope to reason that the hero should let him live instead of slaying him and making off with his hoard of gold.* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': After Shepard's squad kills a unique, 10,000-year-old creature known as the Thorian, an asari named Shiala briefly expresses some regret that this was necessary, and so does the Council. Why? Because the Thorian was the only one of its kind, and it was such a shame that the universe will never see its kind again.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' Molly is protected by the Endangered Species Act because she's the only one of her species in existence. Since Galatea's birth, there are actually two, [[spoiler:three, counting the giant baby Voluptua took away,]] but that still ain't very many.* In ''Webcomic/TheWotch,'' the Unicarn demon is the last of it's kind, because as a child, it wiped out the rest of its people. [[EnfanteTerrible As a child.]] When he grew up, he REALLY started to regret that...[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Fortunately, this is why we're so big on protecting endangered species. Tragically, this is why it's hard to get anyone worked up about a species being over-hunted until there's only a few left.* The two primary aspects of value are spacial and chronological rarity: how much of something there is, and its longevity. While one might argue that these are only relevant in the context of a thing's utility, that rarely comes into play. It is effectively guaranteed that if something is (or perceived to be) distinct, unique and fragile / short-lived, that humans will covet it eagerly... even if it is completely useless and rather ugly.[[/folder]]----